Haenggung-dong café with parking out front, ube cloud: Caffeine Focus

Today I'm sharing an honest review of Caffeine Focus, a café bakery I visited in Haenggung-dong. A café in Haenggung-dong where you can enjoy the fortress view along with tasty bakery items ✔️ A Haenggung-dong café where you can park right in front ✔️

A Haenggung-dong café with fortress views and a bakery counter

Caffeine Focus is a brand-new Haenggung-dong café with a wide-open view of Suwon's fortress walls. There are so many cafés in Haenggung-dong, but it's hard to find one with both a great view and great bakery. I happened to have plans in Haenggung-dong, so I looked it up and decided to visit. A café with a fortress view that also has good bakery items — this one seemed like it would get popular fast.

Before going in, there was even a photo spot out front. And there's parking right in front of the store, so you can skip the parking stress!

Caffeine Focus hours and parking

• Hours: 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM (closed Tuesdays)
• Address: 11-92 Namsu-dong, Paldal-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
• Parking lot available (in front of the store)

The 1st-floor terrace at Caffeine Focus

There are seats on the outdoor terrace, so on a nice day it would be lovely to drink your coffee outside. If you visit on a weekday especially, I think you can enjoy a relaxed atmosphere there!

What bread is on the 1st-floor counter?

Once you step inside the 1st floor of Caffeine Focus, you can order drinks and desserts. The bread lineup was varied, from ciabatta to egg scones, muffins, and Basque cheesecake, and they even make the sandwiches in-house! It seemed like a great spot for brunch with coffee.

2nd-floor tables vs 3rd-floor standing seats: the best fortress view

At Caffeine Focus you can sit anywhere from the 2nd to the 3rd floor, so you can pick whichever seat you like. Heading up to the 2nd floor first, there are wide tables and plenty of 4-person tables. Every floor of this café has floor-to-ceiling windows, so it never feels stuffy. Finally, the 3rd floor was standing seats, a quiet spot good for coming alone or with one other person — and it's the best sweet spot with the prettiest fortress view 👏🏻💕

So how is it?? Isn't the atmosphere so good?? The weather was nice, and the fortress view with the green grass and the sky... just looking at it is healing ㅠㅠ And there's a terrace on the 3rd floor too! It seemed like a great spot to look toward Paldalsan mountain as the sunset falls.

What I ordered: ube cloud, americano and egg scone

My order came out. Since ube is trending these days, I decided to order the ube cloud.

• Ube Cloud ₩6,500
• Americano ₩5,500
• Egg Tart ₩3,500

How does the ube cloud taste? Ube foam stirred into coconut water

The one I was most curious about, the ube cloud!! First off, it passed the visual test. As for how to drink it, you mix the ube foam into the coconut water. So how does ube cloud taste?? Honestly, I worried the flavors might clash?? But..... it was soft and nutty and delicious..!! The subtle coconut aroma was lovely too. If you like ube and coconut flavors, I'd recommend it!! The americano also had a pleasant, well-balanced acidity and nuttiness.

How does the egg scone taste?

The egg scone exceeded expectations too. The egg inside had a crumbly texture, soft almost like eating egg pudding. And the tart shell wrapping it was crisp outside, moist inside (satisfying). If I hadn't been full, I would've wanted to eat two!!

Final verdict: a date course with a Hwaseong Fortress walk

💛Final verdict💛 After spending time at Caffeine Focus, I think planning a route to walk around Suwon Hwaseong Fortress or stroll through the alleys of Haenggung-dong would make for a solid day-date course. Haenggung-dong especially has so many alleys worth exploring that you don't need to linger long at the café before heading out to look around. And on very hot or cold days, it's nice to rest at the café and then head back out to explore. Next time I visit Haenggung-dong again, I'd like to try other menu items and spend a bit more relaxed time at the café 🥺